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Keychain 50mw 520nm Laser Driver, Power, and Button Mounting/Choices

Patti F

New member
Joined
Mar 9, 2022
Messages
2
Points
3
Intro/Background

Hello!

This is my first post and I'm excited to have finally made an account.

I'm putting a 50mw 520nm diode from dtr's laser shop into a cheap keychain laser housing because it is adorable, my favorite color, and I love lasers more than pretty much anything and I want something I can take with me, that I built, that won't incinerate the eyes of onlookers...completely (I know 50mw is quite a bit for a "safe laser" so if you think I should go down to the 30mw variation of this model, or the 515nm 10mw case positive on dtr's shop let me know) It's not like I'm going to actually use it in public, that would be weird, I just want to play with it while a watch tv or something without fear of permanent blind spots.

The keychain housing is 12mm in diameter, the button hole is 2cm in so i plan to use dtr's half length module since thats the only thing that'll fit.

I plan to power it with a 10180 li-ion or an ultracapacitor or two because I love those things to death.

Also I will enjoy the g8 lens :)


My issue


I can't find information I understand about what driver to make (I'm a senior and high school and plan to major in electrical engineering so hopefully that will change soon, I've been watching a lot of lectures), I was hoping to do something simple with an amc7135 or lm317 but wasn't sure if those simpler ones have a down side to the life of the diode.

Ideally I would like to use the 10mw diode I listed above, but the casing for the keychain is conductive as you might have guessed and I don't know how to insulate the module properly or even if you can with that little wiggle room (both the module and keychain case internal diameter are 12mm)

Also for the switch I'm thinking maybe I could drill two little holes and maybe mount something?
Conclusion

Long story short, what is a good driver I can make myself (or buy if I must) that I could use 10180 cells with and how can I get a button mounted and to stay in place in there? Could I run a 30 or 50mw diode at a lower power for it to be safer without issues with the diode? And will making a simpler driver reduce the life of my diode?

Thank you so much for your help :)

Also I originally had links to dtr's laser shop and the diodes but I have to have 20 posts to be able to post links so sorry for the inconvenience
 
Last edited:





Joined
Nov 8, 2011
Messages
404
Points
28
You do realize the 520nm diode needs 7.3volts.
A simple linear driver will not work if you are planning on using a single 10180 cell.
You’ll need to use a boost driver.
 

Giannis_TDM

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 27, 2019
Messages
895
Points
93
Intro/Background

Hello!

This is my first post and I'm excited to have finally made an account.

I'm putting a 50mw 520nm diode from dtr's laser shop into a cheap keychain laser housing because it is adorable, my favorite color, and I love lasers more than pretty much anything and I want something I can take with me, that I built, that won't incinerate the eyes of onlookers...completely (I know 50mw is quite a bit for a "safe laser" so if you think I should go down to the 30mw variation of this model, or the 515nm 10mw case positive on dtr's shop let me know) It's not like I'm going to actually use it in public, that would be weird, I just want to play with it while a watch tv or something without fear of permanent blind spots.

The keychain housing is 12mm in diameter, the button hole is 2cm in so i plan to use dtr's half length module since thats the only thing that'll fit.

I plan to power it with a 10180 li-ion or an ultracapacitor or two because I love those things to death.

Also I will enjoy the g8 lens :)


My issue


I can't find information I understand about what driver to make (I'm a senior and high school and plan to major in electrical engineering so hopefully that will change soon, I've been watching a lot of lectures), I was hoping to do something simple with an amc7135 or lm317 but wasn't sure if those simpler ones have a down side to the life of the diode.

Ideally I would like to use the 10mw diode I listed above, but the casing for the keychain is conductive as you might have guessed and I don't know how to insulate the module properly or even if you can with that little wiggle room (both the module and keychain case internal diameter are 12mm)

Also for the switch I'm thinking maybe I could drill two little holes and maybe mount something?
Conclusion

Long story short, what is a good driver I can make myself (or buy if I must) that I could use 10180 cells with and how can I get a button mounted and to stay in place in there? Could I run a 30 or 50mw diode at a lower power for it to be safer without issues with the diode? And will making a simpler driver reduce the life of my diode?

Thank you so much for your help :)

Also I originally had links to dtr's laser shop and the diodes but I have to have 20 posts to be able to post links so sorry for the inconvenience
How small of a driver do you actually need? If not anything extreme I am sure my boost will do with a size of 13mm x 7.2mm, Else I have a special order only absolutely tiny boost driver, 5mm x 5.35mm. both can drive the diode you want and won't require an external heatsink.
 
Joined
Oct 18, 2014
Messages
546
Points
63
i have it with diameter 10mm price 15usd, but the costship by DHL is very high 75usd
 




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